I strived for a much higher savings rate of 70% - 75% each month. However, it wasn't a case of extreme savings where I needed to deprive myself of a social life and live on just bread and water. The higher savings percentage was achieved due to a rise in income, as I worked harder in my office job to show the value of my worth to my bosses (thus warranting a pay raise, hooray!) and also taught more tuition students on weekends and weekday evenings.Although it was tiring - I was literally working 7 days a week - it was all worth it. After all, I don't know how many more years of my youth I can spend chiong-ing so much tuition...once family responsibilities kick in, I'll probably have to cut down.2. Save your bonus (instead of spending it).This wasn't quite as relevant in my case as my company does not give out yearly bonuses. Nor do we get a 13-month bonus.However, I did get a pleasant surprise when my boss rewarded me with a $1k+ bonus, and that went immediately into my savings.

3. Open up separate bank accounts / Park your money in a good savings account.When I first started out, I opened 2 accounts to keep my expenses and savings separate.I've since added more savings accounts, due to the cap of $60,000 for attractive interest rates by many of the different banks. I've been exploring good savings accounts, and you can read my reviews of the UOB One, OCBC 360 and BOC SmartSaver here.Unfortunately, all 3 banks have since revised their interest rates and qualifying criteria, so I'm now on the lookout for the next best alternative. Will update on the changes shortly once I've gathered the data.4. Invest

The stock market hasn't performed well this year. For those who were lucky enough to purchase at the market bottom during January - February, congrats! Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them as I had run out of money during that period and didn't have enough to invest.I did, however, invest in one counter which netted me a $2k+ gain within 2 months. It was my best investment of the year and the profits went straight into my savings.In 2014, I wrote about the tips that helped me to accumulate my first $20,000. The ones that I'm still practising today are:5. Track all my expensesI'm still using the free app "Expense Manager", although I'm looking to migrate to Seedly soon once I change my phone, as it is a local personal finance app developed by my (now) friends who also consulted me in the development phase to help improve it for users. Would anyone want to sponsor me a new phone? My current phone has a pathetic 8 GB of internal space and is always running out of storage so I can't install any new apps -.-On the app, I've also added a new category called "Wedding", which I foresee to be the next big money-sucker as my wedding date draws closer.I've gotten a little lazier at tracking my expenses, so sometimes I do 2 days at one shot, but I'm still tracking every single dollar I spend as it continues to give me valuable insight into where my money is going. I'll do an update on this by end December to chart my yearly expenses for 2016.

6. Eat cheap / Avoid cafes

I remember receiving much flak for this tip, as many of my peers just couldn't fathom skipping cafe food and sent me dirt via emails or comments. On a personal basis, I've continued to stick to homemade food and hawker food. My wallet is happy and so am I (true-blue Singaporean foodie here).Skip the morning coffeeI've only indulged in Starbucks when I'm teaching. Other than that, I try to skip coffee entirely and drink plain water instead, as it is healthier for my diet as well while I try to lose weight in time for the wedding.Cut down on drinks / nightlifeI'm really proud of the fact that I've not stepped into a single club this year.Other than the inevitable fact that I'm getting old and the nightlife doesn't appeal to me anymore, I find that another main reason is because I've simply lost my love for alcohol after knowing how bad it is for folks trying to lose weight.I still indulge in my social drinks with friends, but it is probably safe to say that my days of clubbing are over.7. Take advantage of credit card promotions I've been studying credit cards in detail to see how I can maximise my dollars and rewards over the year. The cashback I've gotten from the cards and other perks are indeed a huge bonus. I continue to maintain my stand that being smart about credit cards are a fantastic way to save money as well, provided you pay off your debts in time.Here are some posts I've written on this:What Are the 5 Best Credit Cards in Singapore Now?Which Credit Cards to Use for Wedding Expenses

Looks like I've hit my $100,000 milestone much earlier than I expected (age 30).Although some may argue that CPF isn't really your money, I definitely look at it as cash of my own, albeit a sum that I can't withdraw at my own whim and fancy. I'll do a recap of my entire savings and expenditure for 2016 in a few weeks when December comes to an end. Given that I'm now past the $100k mark, I hope to reach my next milestone of quarter of a million ($250k) before 32.Moving forward, I expect our wedding next year to be a huge drain on our finances as well as our housing, but I'll continue to save as much as I can. With love,Budget Babe

Actually I have more. Roughly around that figure. I started working at age 21 years old. Your 50K cash save up per year is powerful too!

Jia you! I do not wish to share how much cash I have save up as I hope to avoid some misunderstandidng. But I have huge portfolio of share, about 600k. Some I follow some bloggers to buy penny. And burst. All hard earned money. Don't be like me. Believe me, if you can save then just save also can make you rich.

Even without including your cash savings in 2016, you have exceeded S$100,000 by age 26. That's a great achievement!

Good to know the higher savings rate is due to a rise in income. There's a limit to how much you can cut your expenses, which tend to rise over time anyway as you have more financial commitments. Findings ways to increase income is more sustainable long-term.

I won't use the total amount of CPF (OA + SA + MA) to boost ego about having lots of cash savings. Firstly, OA will be depleted to $0 soon for your new home. Secondly, MA will be used for medical insurance and approved hospitalisation bill deductions. Thirdly, SA is locked until 55 years old and then it will be shifted to RA for 10 years storage until 65 years old.

Hmm it isn't about boosting ego but more for tracking my net worth - and I do count CPF as part of my assets as well. If you don't consider CPF as your own net worth that's fine too, but it definitely is a significant part to me especially since I transfer my own cash savings into CPF every year, so it doesnt make sense for me to exclude CPF entirely.

What's your mortgage like?

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You can call me Dawn, and this little space on the Internet is where I write about becoming financially-free. Join me as we learn more about savings, budgeting, paying off debts, insurance and investing together!

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Please note that all statements published on this blog are solely opinions of my own i.e. of a personal nature, and should not in any way be taken as statements of fact. Readers are encouraged to do their own research before arriving at any conclusions based solely on materials provided, or republished, on this blog.